According to the Movember Foundation, one man dies every hour from the disease here in the UK, and in a year, 42,000 men are diagnosed with it.

Steve Tuck, 51, was diagnosed after found himself getting up six times a night to pee. His GP gave him a Digital Rectal exam, before a urologist carried out a prostate biopsy, which involved taking samples out of his back passage using a needle.

‘Then I went back to see the urologist in February 2014 and was fully expecting him to say he could find nothing wrong with me,’ Steve tells Metro.co.uk.

It turned out that 6 of the 10 samples taken tested positive – two days after I turned 49, I was told that I had cancer.’

Steve Tuck (Picture: Movember Foundation)

The greatest risk for prostate cancer is age, which is why the Movember Foundation try and get men above 50 to have the conversation with their doctors about the disease and whether a Prostate Specific Antigen test is right for them.

GPs also recommend that black men and those with a family history of the condition have this conversation by the time they’re 45.

Steve was lucky – he was relevantly young when he contracted the cancer, and was able to choose his treatment. He opted to have his prostate removed by a robotic prostatectomy, in June 2014.

‘This method is less invasive than open surgery and provides the surgeon with very fine control of their movements,’ he says.

But it is still a fairly lengthy procedure – my surgery took about four and half hours,’

‘I spent two nights in hospital after surgery (many men go home the following day) and was sent home with a catheter and bag for my urine so that the internal stitching around the neck of my bladder had a chance to heal. A week later, I returned to check on my progress and to have the catheter removed.

‘Some men are lucky and find that they have complete control of their bladder once the tube is removed, but most of us need to use pads for a while until the muscles recover (yes, men need to do pelvic floor exercises, too!).

‘It took longer than I had anticipated getting back full control of my bladder function, but it is not a problem for me today.’

Steve says he’s been very fortunate as many men don’t show symptoms of the disease in the early stages.

‘I was lucky to have symptoms and a GP that did a thorough job,’ he says.

‘If I hadn’t, I was told that I would have been in pain within five years and it would have been too late for curative treatment.’

No one knows how to actually prevent prostate cancer but maintain a healthy weight is a start.

‘Research shoes that being overweight or obese increases your risk of getting cancer that’s more likely to spread, or advanced prostate cancer,’ says Sarah Coghlan from the Movember Foundation.

Was Steve aware of the disease before it struck?

‘No. I was almost entirely clueless about the disease,’ he says.

‘In fact, I knew very little about what the prostate is and how it functions, to be honest.

‘I have no significant family history of prostate cancer (or other related cancers) and had no reason to think I was at high risk.’

The problem is that Steve’s lack of knowledge is commonplace, which is why he’s sharing his story.

While a lot of men might have heard of, seen or taken part in Movember, few of them know much about the diseases it’s trying to help eradicate.

‘I’d heard about men growing moustaches for Movember, of course, but I hadn’t really caught the important messages behind it.’

This year, he’s growing a moustache, taking on a Move Challenge and is organising for his local village hall to be transformed into a village inn for one night only.

‘Our village, Stanton Harcourt, has been without a pub for the last two years, so for one night on 26 November, I’m turning our Village Hall into the Village Inn and the proceeds from the evening will go to the Movember Foundation.’

By 2030, the Movember Foundation hopes to reduced the number of men dying prematurely by 25%.

Here's how you can get involved

Grow your mo: grow a lovely mousache for 30 days and get sponsored for it

‘Risk factors that increase a man’s vulnerability to suicide include acute stress, depressed mood, social isolation and unhelpful conceptions of masculinity (stoic beliefs and values).

‘We are encouraging men to take action sooner; because we know that early intervention leads to better outcomes,’ says Sarah, from the Foundation.

‘Just listening, talking and being there for someone can be lifesaving.

‘You don’t have to have all the answers, you don’t need to be a trained expert, you don’t even need to be the solution to the problem, but being there and validating the pain someone is in can make a lifesaving difference.

‘We can encourage men to reach out, particularly during times of change and when things get tough, and to take action sooner rather than later to reduce risk of suicide.’

Oli Jones was diagnosed with bipolar disorder back in 2012, but says that he was struggling with depression and mania symptoms for years before. He says that he’s been so depressed that he’s contemplated suicide on several occasions.

Oli Jones (Picture: Movember Foundation)

‘Even after my diagnosis in 2012, it has taken three years for me to become truly stable,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.

‘I’ve been feeling good, well and happy for a good 12 months now.’

He currently works as a head tennis coach in Manchester, and says that exercise has been key in maintaining mental stability.

‘I have had to change my lifestyle to try and give myself the best chance of staying mentally stable,’ he says.

‘Although I’ve always been active through my tennis, I’ve also started running and found I really enjoy it.

‘Exercise and staying active really does make you feel a lot better and gets natural endorphins flowing in the body. This year, I’ll be taking part in Movember’s Move initiative and hoping to fit in a MoRun.’

Oli says that he watches his diet and alcohol consumption and says that it is possible to recover from having poor mental health.

‘It may take some time and patience but there is always light at the end of the tunnel,’ he says.

‘There is a lot of information regarding mental health now so I would urge loved ones to just open up a dialogue with the person that they care about. They may not be ready straight away to talk so patience is key.

‘Once the conversation has started, the person struggling may need to get professional help so I would urge them to take them to the GP and maybe even go with them for support.

‘Sometimes, just talking about mental health can help a person to begin to deal with how they are feeling.’